Guide to the 6 Steps of Mobile App Development Process

The first step in the Mobile App Development process is setting clear, measurable goals for your mobile phone app development project. This initial phase of the mobile application development process involves comprehensive requirement gathering and strategic planning. You need to document the complete technical and non-technical requirements of the app to ensure that you address all the reasons why you are developing a mobile app for your business and the goals you want to achieve.

During this critical stage of the mobile app development workflow, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the purpose of developing the mobile app?
• How can my business improve through the mobile app?
• How will my customers benefit when they use the mobile app?
• Will the mobile app increase the efficiency of my employees?
• Who are my competitors and what are they doing?
• What will be the Unique Selling Point for this mobile app?
• What are the tools and technologies that we might need to develop the mobile app?
• What platforms will we target (iOS, Android, or cross-platform)?
• What is our budget and timeline for the mobile application development stages?
• How will we measure success after the app launches?

These are essential questions that you need to answer at the end of the first stage in the mobile apps development process. In addition, you should also explore the possibility whereby the mobile app can be updated with more features to cater to future growth or requirements. This forward-thinking approach during the development of mobile applications will make your mobile app development step by step process a true success.

The planning phase also requires thorough market research and competitive analysis. Understanding existing solutions in your industry helps identify gaps that your mobile phone application development can fill, directly influencing the subsequent mobile app development process steps.

After you have defined all the goals and requirements for your mobile app, the next step will be designing. In this stage of the mobile application development process, you should be able to design a prototype to form a storyboard. You need to focus on the functions of the app and also UI/UX design. A good UI/UX design will create a good user experience and high customer engagement when your mobile app is intuitive, interactive, and user-friendly. For this purpose, you will need a working prototype of the user interface.

The common method to create a prototype during mobile phone app development is wireframing. Wireframing is a quick and cost-effective approach that developers use to create the basic framework for mobile app development. It is also known as a mockup which let you have a visual structure of the functions of your mobile app. This phase of the mobile app development workflow includes creating:

– Low-fidelity wireframes showing basic layout and navigation flow
– High-fidelity mockups with detailed designs, colors, and typography
– Interactive prototypes that simulate user interactions
– User journey mapping to understand how users will navigate through your app
– Design system development, including color palettes, fonts, and reusable components

After the completion of wireframing, it needs to go through peer review and be updated to reflect all the changes and suggestions given by customers or team members. When developing a mobile app, it is always easier to change the wireframe compared to changing the completed app. Only when all the changes to the wireframe are approved during these mobile application development stages can you then proceed to the next phase.

The design phase also involves usability testing with potential users to gather feedback on the user experience. This testing helps identify potential issues early in the mobile apps development process, ensuring the final product will meet user expectations and business objectives.

• Cloud Server: Amazon Web Services, Google App Engine, and Microsoft Azure are popular examples that offer scalable infrastructure for mobile phone app development projects of any size.
• Custom Server: Data is hosted in a relational database or a NoSQL database on the company’s server. In this case, the data remains within the company yet is accessible from anywhere via an API call. However, it could be difficult to scale and optimize the mobile app in the future during later mobile application development stages.
• MBaaS: One of the latest and most popular options in the mobile apps development process. It is a pre-built cloud-hosted infrastructure that allows web and mobile applications to access backend APIs, storage, and various social networks seamlessly. Mobile App Development time can be shortened since developers can save time by avoiding repetitive, time-consuming back-end development and server configuration.

The backend planning phase also involves designing API endpoints for data exchange, implementing security measures like data encryption and user authentication systems, and ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. Modern mobile app development workflow requires careful consideration of these backend elements to support the app’s functionality and future growth requirements.

At this step, you should have a clear picture of all the requirements you need for the mobile app and your action plan. With all the findings gathered during the earlier planning, designing, and prototyping stages, you can start the development process. This core phase of the mobile app development process steps transforms your planned features and designs into a functional mobile application.

You will need to choose the kind of environment in which you want to develop the mobile app based on your mobile application development strategy. If you are targeting only Android users, you can develop the mobile app using Android Studio with Java or Kotlin. For targeting only IOS users, you can develop the app using XCode with Swift or Objective-C. Otherwise, for Cross-Platform mobile phone app development, you can use options like React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, or Hybrid Apps with no-code or Low-Code Development platforms.

The development phase involves several key activities within the mobile apps development process:
– Setting up development environments and version control systems
– Implementing user interface components based on approved designs
– Developing backend integration and API connections
– Creating user authentication and data management systems
– Building core app functionality and features
– Implementing security measures and data protection protocols

Even though this phase takes the longest time in the mobile application development stages, there is a good chance of discovering new functionality issues or even coming up with new ideas that were not being explored in the earlier stages. Especially if you are creating a complex mobile app, it is recommended to adopt the Agile methodology since it allows for flexible planning, gradual development, and continuous improvement throughout the development of mobile applications.

The development team should also implement continuous integration practices, conduct regular code reviews, and maintain comprehensive documentation during this critical phase of the mobile app development workflow.

It should not be a surprise that we must test the app consistently to check for bugs in the mobile app. Having Quality Assurance tests in place helps make the mobile app stable, usable, and secure. This critical phase of mobile app development ensures your application meets quality standards before reaching users. As a general rule, you should test your mobile app with a lot of real-world scenarios to check for any technical issues.

The whole testing process in the mobile application development process should include UI/UX Testing, Functional Testing, Performance Testing, Security Testing, and Device & Platform Testing. Modern mobile phone app development requires comprehensive evaluation across multiple dimensions:

Functional Testing Categories:
– Feature testing to verify all planned functionality works as intended
– User interface testing to ensure UI elements respond correctly
– API testing to validate backend communication and data exchange
– Integration testing to confirm third-party service connections
– Regression testing to ensure new features don’t break existing functionality

Performance and Usability Testing:
– Load testing to evaluate app performance under various user loads
– Memory usage monitoring and optimization opportunities
– Battery impact assessment and power consumption efficiency
– Network condition testing across different connection speeds
– Cross-device compatibility testing across different screen sizes and resolutions

Security and Compliance Testing:
– Data protection verification and encryption validation
– Authentication testing for secure login processes
– Privacy compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other regulations
– Penetration testing to identify potential security vulnerabilities

The testing phase should occur continuously throughout the mobile apps development process rather than only at the end. This approach identifies issues earlier in the development of mobile applications, reducing costs and improving overall quality. Only when you are confident that the mobile app satisfies all the goals and requirements you had identified earlier in the mobile application development stages, you can then proceed to launch the app.

Depending on the type of device your mobile app is built for, IOS or Android, you must submit it to the respective app store to release it. This final step in the core mobile app development process steps requires careful preparation and strategic planning to ensure successful approval and optimal user adoption.

The app store submission process involves several key components within the mobile application development workflow:

App Store Preparation Requirements:

– Complete developer account setup and verification for your chosen platforms
– Prepare comprehensive app metadata including descriptions, screenshots, and promotional materials
– Provide privacy policy and data handling documentation as required
– Create compelling App Store listing with optimized keywords for discoverability
– Configure pricing, availability settings, and content ratings appropriately

If your app needs users to log in, you will also need to provide a test user account as part of the submission process during these mobile application development stages. Both Google and Apple have their process of testing your mobile app before officially releasing it for users to download.

App Store Optimization (ASO) Strategy:

The mobile phone application development process extends beyond technical implementation to include marketing considerations. This includes creating compelling app titles with relevant keywords, detailed descriptions highlighting unique value propositions, high-quality screenshots showcasing key features, and engaging app preview videos demonstrating functionality.

Launch Strategy and Marketing:

Successful mobile phone app development projects include comprehensive launch planning with pre-launch beta testing, social media campaign development, press kit preparation, and coordinated marketing campaign activation on launch day.

Usually, the review process may take a few days. If your mobile app is being rejected, you will receive a notification with the reason for rejection. You can re-submit your mobile app for a second review after you have corrected the issues flagged. The iterative nature of the app store approval process is a normal part of the mobile apps development process, and most successful apps require multiple submissions to achieve approval.

After your app is available for download, monitor its usage through mobile analytics platforms and track the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your mobile app. The mobile application development process doesn’t end with app store approval – post-launch activities are crucial phases of mobile app development that determine long-term success and user adoption.

Performance Monitoring and Analytics:

Track essential metrics including daily and monthly active users (DAU/MAU), user retention rates across different time periods, app store ratings and review sentiment analysis, crash reports and technical performance metrics, user engagement and session duration data, and conversion rates for in-app purchases or key actions.

Continuous Improvement Process:

Check your crash reports or other user-reported issues frequently during the ongoing mobile phone application development maintenance. At the same time, encourage users to provide feedback and suggestions for your mobile app. Provide prompt support to users if needed. If necessary, periodically patch your mobile app with improvements to keep users engaged.

Long-term Maintenance Strategy:

With the dynamic technology landscape, you must stay on top of the technology advancements and update your mobile app routinely to ensure long-term success. This includes operating system compatibility updates, third-party service integration updates, performance optimization and bug fixes, security patches and vulnerability addressing, and backend infrastructure scaling and optimization.

Marketing and User Acquisition:

Successful mobile apps development process includes ongoing App Store Optimization (ASO) refinement, content marketing and thought leadership, social media engagement and community building, paid advertising campaigns optimization, and partnership development opportunities.

At TechTIQ, we provide end-to-end custom mobile app development for any business. We have helped many SMEs and Fortune 500 companies launch their mobile app successfully within their allocated budget, guiding them through every step of the mobile application development stages.

If you have more questions about developing a mobile app for your business or need guidance on the mobile app development step by step process, we will be more than happy to assist.